Barbers are notorious tax cheats. They will often not enter cash transactions into their tills.
That’s likely what this is really about.
Given the sad state of our finances, and the unconstitutional guilty-until-proven-innocent tactics of the IRS, I salute any and all tax cheats. More power to them and may they never come to grief.
Give us a reasonable flat tax, flat from dollar zero to billions per year income and I will turn in tax cheats myself!
In which case wouldn’t it be a different story here, a story of a sting (e.g. an investigator comes in as a customer and watches how his payment is handled). Not a story of harassment.
“Barbers are notorious tax cheats. They will often not enter cash transactions into their tills.”
This is the only thing keeping many businesses open.
They're not giving enough to government?
Maybe government should regulate barber shops more. Maybe install surveillance cameras over each barber chair? Or monitor their bank accounts and sit them down for yearly IRS interview/interrogations.
In my area this is also about legitimate (licensed) American barbers siccing the dogs on their under-the-table, unlicensed, unsanitary competition who undercut them.
I’m sure the state wants its annual licensing renewals as well.
As my area goes “off the grid” in terms of filling with illegals, these little shops are popping up everywhere; at the same time, as the state requires barbers to get licensing by passing a state test (that would allow one to do any kind of cosmetology), the old guy who just cuts guys’ hair is disappearing. The state grandfathered them years ago; no nobody going through the trouble of getting a license would limit themselves with such a small clientele.
My barber (older Italian gentleman) only takes cash, I get a damn fine haircut and usually have to sit and wait a while for it. I swear he is on his feet from 7:00 to 6:30 five days a week!
Chinese buffets too.
I appreciate that they figured out a way to keep what they earned from thieves with a license to steal.